I turned my famous (to me & my peeps) oatmeal cookies into muffins just in time for the holidays! These old fashioned oatmeal muffins are the perfect solution to a quick grab & go breakfast full of fiber, protein, & carbs. This recipe can even be made completely vegan and/or gluten free!
Everyone around me knows that I’m not a baker. I don’ dislike baking, but unlike cooking, it is so “precise”. Plus I don’t really eat sweets so I have to rely on other people to taste any new baked goodies I haven’t made before.
For this recipe though, I had a goal. I really wanted to make something that my now 1-year old son could just grab & go to eat for breakfast. He’s an athlete and doesn’t like to eat anything heavy (or anything at all) before a game or those early morning practices.
We’ve tried everything with this kid from boiled eggs (or normal weekday go to) to breakfast/protein bars (he only likes 1 flavor & it has to be the perfect temp & “hardness”). Nothing sticks.
A couple of weeks ago I was prepping ingredients to make my famous to us oatmeal cookies and I had a thought. These are the only cookies I would ever let anyone eat for breakfast. So why not make them breakfast ready & turn them into muffins?!
Brilliant.
Only problem is, like I said before, I don’t bake. So how do I turn a dry (cookie) recipe into a wet (cake/muffin) recipe? Simple…maybe. I just needed to think about the only cake I make, this brown sugar bundt cake, and what’s different about it.
Cake vs. cookie. Wet vs dry. Liquid vs no liquid. That’s it!
Homemade Old Fashioned Oatmeal Muffins Cooking Tips
A couple of tips. I never have buttermilk on hand. Ever. I learned from my grandmother that adding a bit of acid to “regular” milk = buttermilk. But we never have regular cow’s milk anymore either. The substitution still works – 1 cup almond milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice = 1 cup buttermilk.
Another substitution you can make is for butter. If you use plant based milk like we do, you can make these completely vegan by using coconut oil instead of butter.
When it comes to getting the muffins clean out of the pan, I only know 1 way to do it. Get in there with your hands & butter (or oil) that pan up good. Get all in the crevices. No need for flour and you don’t need a ton of butter, just enough to actually coat the inside of the muffin cups.
Last thing… I like to use a ladle to fill my muffin cups. The amount of dough is perfect for the size of muffins I like – the kind that have that iconic muffin top – and it’s easier to get all the dough directly into the cup (no messy spills all over the muffin tin). It’s worth noting that this method using this recipe yields 9 muffins instead of 12.
Just like with my old fashioned oatmeal cookie recipe, I plan to try these with fruit added as well. The holidays are the perfect time to do it since there’ll be lots of cranberries & apples around.
Old Fashioned Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup oatmeal
- 1 cup buttermilk (see notes for substitutions)
- 1 egg
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup butter (see notes for substitutions) + more for the muffin pan
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- preheat oven to 400°
- soak the oatmeal in the buttermilk for an hour or so
- in a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and egg and mix until well combined & creamy
- in a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients well (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt)
- add ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl & stir to combine
- add ⅓ of the oatmeal & milk to the mixing bowl & stir to combine
- repeat steps 4 & 5 until all ingredients are mixed well
- spoon into well greased muffin cups about ¾ of the way full (for a modest muffin)
- bake for 20-25 minutes at 400°
- let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan
Enjoy!
Notes
Substitutions:
- 1 cup buttermilk = 1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ⅓ cup butter = ⅓ cup coconut oil = ⅓ cup shortening
